By Julia Preston (NYT); Compiled by Anthony Ramirez

Published: March 16, 2005

Russell Harding, the former president of the New York City Housing Development Corporation, pleaded guilty yesterday in Federal District Court in Manhattan to embezzling more than $400,000 from the agency. Mr. Harding participated in a hearing yesterday by videoconference from a federal mental health center in Butner, N.C. He has been under observation there since his bail was revoked in November 2003 after his family claimed he had become emotionally unstable. An effort by Mr. Harding to assert that he was not mentally competent to stand trial was rejected by the court. His sentencing is scheduled for June 27, when he faces 51 to 63 months in prison. Julia Preston (NYT)